search far for some excitement...I know...if this is excitement I know I'm definitely approaching middle age! Anyway, I read in the local newspaper that a Norwegian fuel tanker had some major issues and nearly ran aground in the St. Clair River! I still had some adventure in me after arriving back from vacation (more on that later) so I went to St. Clair to see the big boat.From the parking lot of a wonderful local restaurant....nothing looks awry..except its a little closer (maybe they wanted take-out from the Voyageur).
Until you look from another angle you can truly see that a huge disaster was averted! Apparently last Thursday or Friday there was an engine room fire on the 533 foot fuel tanker (hope it was empty) and as they were trying to put the fire out they maneuvered the vessel out of the shipping lane but accidentally hit a buoy which swung it around the other
way and that's when it headed for the seawall! YIKES! When freighters collide it can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Fortunately the crew remembered the motto on the wheelhouse and dropped anchor! (Maybe I need to tatoo that somewhere where I can always keep that phrase in mind...)
Stopping the Sidsel Knutsen probably less than a half a minute before impact with the wall!
I suppose if you have never seen a freighter up close and personal it's a real good opportunity to take a gander, from what I understand it's still there. Since the crew is foreign, its my understanding they are pretty much stranded so to speak as they can't leave the ship. According to the paper, someone felt bad and arranged for some pizzas to be delivered! I bet the chef appreciated having a meal off!
Here's the Assiniboine going past in the shipping lane, it was a busy night, as I arrived another southbound freighter also went past!
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